Fluxys opens second Zeebrugge LNG jetty

Belgium’s Fluxys has officially opened the second jetty at its Zeebrugge terminal with the first commercial loading of an LNG carrier.

The second LNG jetty was commissioned in late December following operational tests carried out over recent months.

The Dutch-flagged 15,600 cbm Coral Energy, owned by Anthony Veder and chartered by Skangas, became on Monday the first LNG carrier to dock at the jetty for a commercial loading, Fluxys said in a statement. The vessel mainly supplies the chilled fuel to small-scale terminals in Europe.

According to Fluxys, about 200 loadings have already been booked at the second jetty for small LNG carriers under long-term contracts.

The second jetty will be able to accommodate both small and large LNG carriers, with capacities ranging from 2,000 cbm to 217,000 cbm.

LNG bunkering

With the opening of the new jetty, LNG bunkering vessels are now also able to berth at the terminal located in the outer port of Zeebrugge. These vessels load LNG in order to supply other ships using chilled gas as fuel.

Until now, this could only be done using LNG trailers which come to load at the Zeebrugge terminal but are not ideal for supplying seagoing vessels due to their limited capacity, Fluxys noted in the statement.

Shipping company United European Car Carriers (UECC) recently began operating its first LNG-powered car carrier in Zeebrugge, with a second to follow soon.

The UECC ships will be supplied with LNG by a purpose-built LNG bunkering vessel which will have Zeebrugge as its home port.

The 5000-cbm Engie Zeebrugge, claimed to be the world’s first LNG bunkering vessel, will be operated by Gas4Sea, a joint venture between Engie and its Japanese partners Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK Line.